DragonCon Steampunk Fashion Preview One
The Gentleman Street Fighter
I've always been one to be inspired by the materials I am using. This design has been no different. I really had no idea where this look would go until I knew exactly what materials I was going to use. I've been collecting bits of materials for the past 10 months to allow myself a lot of leeway in design.
The Mission:
To dress the well to do villains of the Victorian Steam Age in appropriate attire for their villianous ways.
The Inspiration:
I was inspired by fashion's of the 1840's and 50's, which comes across in the general fit and broad color strokes. I watched a lot of Gangs of New York, along with Pushing Daises, and my film staple Return to Oz.
Admittedly I really had no idea what direction to go in until I had a lengthy conversation with my best friend and the model who would be wearing it about 2 months ago. He wanted to be able to use a robotic spider on his back so it had to be a versatile look, something a Tinkerer, a Dandy, and a street Fighter would all wear. I guess you could say this is the 2.0 of your tradional mens steampunk uniform (white dress shirt, vest, slacks, googles and top hat).
The Vision:
So it slowly came into being.
The Vest, corseted in a loud wallpaper print featuring nearly every color imaginable, features leather shoulder amour, turn of the century buttons, and an amber stoned watch chain. The lapels and possibly the back of the vest will be done in green taffeta. The pockets may be done in leather, but it may be to matchy with the trousers.
The Trousers, 1850's in their cut, front pocket placement, and pattern. But with a strong nod to Punk bondage pants with metal details, straps, and leather accents. I saw this pants in my head as soon as I discovered this plaid with it's brown, olive green, and cream colors. Although brass is generally acknowledged as "steampunk" I prefer antique gold for it's subtlety. The lower legs snap off so they can be worn as shorts allowing for year round wear.
The Shirt, still fairly undiscovered in my mind. I have several options on hand from my jersey steampunk shirt, to several traditional tucked and embroidered bib front shirts in my closet. If there was no limit on time I would probably go with a small printed paisley in a khaki tone.
The Belt, shown in his hand came to me after discovering a wealth of small glass bottles with little lids. They are approximately 2 inches tall and just over 1/2 an inch wide. All I could think of were ammunition punk belts, but reinvisioned as an apothecary's traveling belt.
The accessories, not fully invisioned other than the fore mentioned amber watch chain. The neck tie is a purple cotton print, and he's currently sporting a brown bowler, however I think it will be quite a bit large for my model's head.
The look in Time:
Overall I am really enjoying this look, it's a bit of a mixed look, but steampunk tends to have a way of looking pieced together; you wear what you need to use, not necessarily just what looks good and acceptable. This is what separates a traditional dapper gentleman from his steamy brotherend. This is a gent that can walk down the streets in 1859 and not really stand out, yet he is definantly not in "traditional" garb. I feel a lot of what allows this look to work both historically, and steampuncally (my new word for today) is the use of pattern. It allows the character to speak without the use of words. It helps to soften details by giving the eyes a LOT to look at, yet as long as your patterns blend together into a cohesive color scheme it will read as a unified not overly processed look.
Words to the crafty:
Don't be scared of mixing prints and patterns. Just remember to keep everything in the same color scheme.
Start with your vest pattern and go from there. The more colors in the vest the more options you have in all your other pieces.
I've always been one to be inspired by the materials I am using. This design has been no different. I really had no idea where this look would go until I knew exactly what materials I was going to use. I've been collecting bits of materials for the past 10 months to allow myself a lot of leeway in design.
The Mission:
To dress the well to do villains of the Victorian Steam Age in appropriate attire for their villianous ways.
The Inspiration:
I was inspired by fashion's of the 1840's and 50's, which comes across in the general fit and broad color strokes. I watched a lot of Gangs of New York, along with Pushing Daises, and my film staple Return to Oz.
Admittedly I really had no idea what direction to go in until I had a lengthy conversation with my best friend and the model who would be wearing it about 2 months ago. He wanted to be able to use a robotic spider on his back so it had to be a versatile look, something a Tinkerer, a Dandy, and a street Fighter would all wear. I guess you could say this is the 2.0 of your tradional mens steampunk uniform (white dress shirt, vest, slacks, googles and top hat).
The Vision:
So it slowly came into being.
The Vest, corseted in a loud wallpaper print featuring nearly every color imaginable, features leather shoulder amour, turn of the century buttons, and an amber stoned watch chain. The lapels and possibly the back of the vest will be done in green taffeta. The pockets may be done in leather, but it may be to matchy with the trousers.
The Trousers, 1850's in their cut, front pocket placement, and pattern. But with a strong nod to Punk bondage pants with metal details, straps, and leather accents. I saw this pants in my head as soon as I discovered this plaid with it's brown, olive green, and cream colors. Although brass is generally acknowledged as "steampunk" I prefer antique gold for it's subtlety. The lower legs snap off so they can be worn as shorts allowing for year round wear.
The Shirt, still fairly undiscovered in my mind. I have several options on hand from my jersey steampunk shirt, to several traditional tucked and embroidered bib front shirts in my closet. If there was no limit on time I would probably go with a small printed paisley in a khaki tone.
The Belt, shown in his hand came to me after discovering a wealth of small glass bottles with little lids. They are approximately 2 inches tall and just over 1/2 an inch wide. All I could think of were ammunition punk belts, but reinvisioned as an apothecary's traveling belt.
The accessories, not fully invisioned other than the fore mentioned amber watch chain. The neck tie is a purple cotton print, and he's currently sporting a brown bowler, however I think it will be quite a bit large for my model's head.
The look in Time:
Overall I am really enjoying this look, it's a bit of a mixed look, but steampunk tends to have a way of looking pieced together; you wear what you need to use, not necessarily just what looks good and acceptable. This is what separates a traditional dapper gentleman from his steamy brotherend. This is a gent that can walk down the streets in 1859 and not really stand out, yet he is definantly not in "traditional" garb. I feel a lot of what allows this look to work both historically, and steampuncally (my new word for today) is the use of pattern. It allows the character to speak without the use of words. It helps to soften details by giving the eyes a LOT to look at, yet as long as your patterns blend together into a cohesive color scheme it will read as a unified not overly processed look.
Words to the crafty:
Don't be scared of mixing prints and patterns. Just remember to keep everything in the same color scheme.
Start with your vest pattern and go from there. The more colors in the vest the more options you have in all your other pieces.